The Kansas State football program is all about living in the here and now. It’s one play at a time, one game at a time, never look ahead.

There was an exception this season. The Wildcats were tired of ending their season with a loss in a bowl game. The 2013 seniors were 0-3 in bowls, and the program had lost five straight since a 2002 Holiday Bowl victory.

The Wildcats were fed up with answering questions about their postseason futility and were determined to put an end to it. That could have added more pressure, but they achieved their goal with a dominating 31-14 victory over Michigan in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl last Saturday in Tempe, Ariz.

“Special. That’s how I could sum it up,” senior free safety Ty Zimmerman said. “We’ve been to four straight now. When you lose bowl games it kind of leaves you with an empty feeling for the next six or seven months till you start playing again, so that was a huge motivational factor for us going into this week.”

With the five-game losing streak behind them, the Wildcats hope to put together a winning streak.

“It sets up a foundation for a new era,” said junior receiver Tyler Lockett, the BWW Bowl Offensive MVP with 10 receptions for 116 yards and three touchdowns. “When you look at the past bowl games, losing (five) straight and finally ending it, actually winning, now we’re on a one-win streak. I think this really sets the foundation for next year because you have a lot of guys who are happy right now in the locker room.

“We all know how it feels to lose in a bowl game and not know what to do for seven months because you don’t get another chance until you play your first game in late August. Being able to win this bowl game, it brings a spark to us going into next year. It brings a feeling of accomplishment because this is the thing that we prepared for since day one. This is the thing that everybody talked about.”

Coach Bill Snyder hopes this will be a turning point, but, as always, he holds a cautious outlook.

“I hope it sets a foundation for the younger players in our program. It will be up to them,” Snyder said. “I would like to have thought that the 2012 season had laid the foundation for the 2013 season. We didn’t get off to a great start. We took some things for granted. I think some of our young people realized that and turned the whole thing around.

“That’s the biggest lesson probably for the young people that are in our program returning, realizing how we started this season and why it took place. The ‘why’ is the most significant thing.”

K-State loses 12 starters, five on offense — including three linemen — and seven on defense, but the Wildcats approach next season with their heads high.

“It can be (a springboard) for all of us returning to end the winless bowl streak that we had and going into next season with a good taste in our mouth,” quarterback Jake Waters said. “The way this season started, it wasn’t the way we wanted. But to finish the way we did, it gives us a lot of momentum and excitement about getting started again. We’re losing some great seniors, but with the work ethic that we have, the type of coaches that we have, we’re all excited about it.”

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